Happy Brithday!
by The Golden City
Summary: (Ehehehe, you can't tell me what to do!) A birthday fic to Crazy-Pairing-Girl! Kico.


**HAAAAAPPY BIIIIIIIIIRTHDAAAAAY!**

**Yeah. I knew it was coming. You can't keep anything from me. I'm just clever. (JK Deviant art told me) Anyway, Happy Birthday once again! Hope you like it girl!, Try to guess the song it's based off. A clever chick like you should be able to get it quick as! :3**

**(Hey, go wish her a happy birthday yeah? It would be super cool of you X3)**

The wind was cool, but he actually quite liked the chill. It was causing the hairs on his arms and on the back of his neck to rise but he didn't mind as long as his breath continued to condense into plumes of mist every time he breathed out. It helped to regulate his breathing, counting the seconds between each outward breath and rising spiral of fog. The sounds of the nightlife of the city were a faint roar of music, voices and cars almost completely drowned out by the noise of the fountain splashing behind him.

Breath out, 2, 3, 4…

For some reason Kowalski always thought better when he was alone, It was just an odd thing he'd come to notice. Maybe it was the way there always seemed to be too many eyes on him, looking for an answer or an explanation and the thought of not being able to provide one was always unnerving. It wasn't the reason he'd muttered some excuse about going for a walk before practically sprinting out the door though.

Another reason he liked the wind was because it was helping to cool down the flaming feeling in the tips of his ears and in his cheeks.

He closed his eyes and let his head tip backwards towards the sky, tightening his grip on the edge of the fountain so he wouldn't fall backwards. He didn't even know why he'd been so eager to get out of there, it had just a normal night with a stupid board game that everyone would get dumbly competitive in and sugar charged snacks that almost always ended up on the floor or being tossed around the room. Anyone else wouldn't have freaked out about it; they would have just gone with it and pretended like absolutely nothing was wrong. And usually he could do that… but this time it was like some imaginary line had somehow been crossed.

"_Come on, a five! A five!" Private chanted, shaking the die in his raised fist as he stared desperately at his little yellow playing piece on the board. MnM's were scattered over the squares and on the coffee table from where Rico had been hurling them at Skipper as he tried to catch them in his mouth mere minutes before, making it hard to see at a glance who was winning. _

_Kowalski grinned and lent backwards against the couch from his sitting position on the floor. "You better hope you get it Private." He chuckled. "I'm only two away from a win."_

"_Come on Private!" Skipper shouted, leaning over sharply and almost nocking a bowl off the table. "You can do it soldier! Don't let me down! Destroy him!"_

_Priavte started gasping like he was on the verge of tears, blinking comically. "I'll t-try my hardest Sir!" He howled, shaking the die harder. _

_Kowalski also lent forward then, hands on the coffee table and eyes narrowed. "Four. Get a four, a four, a four."_

_Really he wasn't quite sure what happened, one moment he was upright and the next he was on his back and pressed against the floor with his hands pinned above his head. And he was there, everywhere, sprawled over his body from his impromptu attack, face so close his neck he could feel the breaths he took with every wheezy laugh. _

"_Nice Attack Rico, Keep him down! Come on Private!"_

_Kowalski barely heard it over the blood rushing to his head. He was so close, too close, close enough that he couldn't even think straight anymore because he could feel him pressed against him everywhere. Still laughing Rico twisted his legs until they were straddling the Scientists thighs so he could push himself up while keeping him pinned against the ground. It wasn't unusual for him to get closer than necessary, but this was even further than that. This was pushing some make-believe barrier he thought Rico would never cross. _

_He couldn't breathe or move or speak, stuck frozen in place as Rico grinned down at him cockily, lips pulled back and eyes half lidded as he kept him on his back. "Nuh uh." He chuckled, fingers relaxing and tightening around his wrists and he was hyper aware of every place of contact between them. It burned in the nicest way and if he would just lean down a little further he could lean up and-_

"_A four! A Four I won!" Private shouted, bursting into laughter as Skipper started trying to lift him up onto his shoulders in a weird mockery of the Fireman's carry. _

_In that second he was up right, shouting with the other two and fist pumping wildly into the air, releasing Kowalski completely and leaving him stunned and face growing brighter and brighter. When he came to his senses he was up and out the door as quickly as he could possibly move, muttering a half-hearted excuse before gapping it down the hall and out of sight. _

He groaned loudly and dropped his chin to his chest. He was being so stupid! If he could have just acted normal for five minutes he could have gone to his lab and continued on with his current project. But now he was stuck outside, overthinking and replaying the same sequence of events that were setting his skin in fire and giving him a headache all in one.

The worst part were the what ifs. What if he had tilted his head down just a fraction further and let his lips graze across his neck? What if he had lent down and actually kissed him? Would he have let him? Would he have given into what he had been longing after for so long?

'I'm insane.' He thought, laughing internally at his own betraying thought processes.

"Walski?"

He wasn't quite sure what it was about it, (but he was pretty sure it was a combination of it coming from so close, from the very person he was thinking about and it being so startling), That gave him such a fright. But for whatever reason it was, it did, and that was probably how he found himself sitting in the fountain, drenched in freezing water and swearing like a sailor.

Rico's first reaction was to absolutely fall to pieces laughing, winding up on his knees in front of the fountain gasping for air.

"Oh shut up." He snapped at him, splashing water towards him with a flick of his wrist.

In hindsight, this was a bad move. And he saw that as soon as his head shot up after feeling the freezing water splash against his face. His expressions grew from one of shock into a far more frightening one as his eyes narrowed and his smile tightened into a menacing one.

Seconds later the psycho was knee deep in the fountain and sending arcs of water towards the scientist who was now struggling to his feet. The high spray caught Kowalski in the face, and with his hair now lank and in his face he retaliated blindly, hoping to hit his target while wading backwards as quickly as he could.

The whole situation escalated far too quickly and pretty soon they were charging through the water and ducking between the arcs of water being sprayed out of the top of the fountain while trying to splash the other as much as possible. The freezing, toe numbing temperatures were quickly forgotten in the wild laughter and empty threats.

"I swear you are going to get it." He growled, turning sharply to where he assumed Rico would be standing. Being faced with nothing more than more leaping arcs of water there was a moment of confusion before he was doused in freezing water. He was a little ashamed of the high pitched yell that left him, but he turned anyway, faced with a red faced and grinning psycho now holding a plastic red bucket. "Where did you even get that?" He gasped, sweeping his hair out of his eyes once again.

Rico shrugged and tossed it over his shoulder with a small chuckle, sending more water droplets into the air as he did. Silence grew between them, and just as he was about to say something about getting out of the freezing water he was cut off.

"'Oo Ok?"

He blinked in confusion. "Yes… I'm a little cold but that's to be expected-"

Rico shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. "'efor." he stated calmly.

Kowalski was thankful his face was already red from the cold and sudden exertion. "Oh yeah… It just got a little warm in there you know…" He laughed sheepishly, hooking a finger under the collar and tugging on his now water-logged sweater.

The Weapons Experts face remained pensive, like he was waiting for something, but before he could ask what the expression was replaced with that dazzling too-many-teeth smile. "ood." He nodded and turned to climb out of the fountain. Kowalski wanted to sigh with relief, thankful he couldn't see what was going through his mind any more than what he could see going through his.

Without the adrenaline and constant movement the cold was starting to kick in, and so He followed him quickly out of the water and back into the warmth of the building, rubbing his hands together frantically trying to get some of the warmth back into his numb fingertips.

After Explaining to Skipper why they were both drenched to the bone and shivering while private made tea, forced them to change and generally fussed over them Kowalski quietly slunk off to his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed.

He honestly tried to sleep. He really did. But it just seemed to be pushed out of the way every time his mind decided to bring those half lidded eyes and dangerous smile to the front of all this thoughts. And every time they did he could practically feel the pleasurable burn of contact, driving him slowly out of his mind.

The next day it was raining. And not in a pleasant sun shower way, but more of a torrential downpour, I hope the roof doesn't leak, kind of way. Kowalski stood idly next to the window, staring blankly at the rain hitting the glass and trying not to shiver under the gaze he could feel raking down his spine from across the room.

It had gotten worse. Ever since that stupid moment it had gotten worse. Every accidental brush or simple, meaningless touch setting his skin on fire and forcing him to act like there was absolutely nothing wrong. He was being burned alive. He tried so hard to ignore it for so long, to just keep reminding himself that Rico was a really bad Idea, and it had worked for the most part.

Now the words just seemed hollow, and didn't even seem to try and deflect the thoughts that would come into his head without warning and cause him to flush violently. It was a mystery as too why someone hadn't picked up something was wrong, but he supposed that he shouldn't be complaining. The longer he could keep his mind under lock and key the sooner it would relent.

This time he heard the footsteps approaching, careful and light like he was walking up to a spooked animal. "Walski?" He called, voice quiet so not to alert Skipper who was deeply engrossed in something that involved headphones on the kitchen table.

He raised an eyebrow and let out a soft "mmm?" but didn't turn around, continuing to stare blankly out the window.

Everything burned. The Proximity burned, the hand on his shoulder burned, even the minute distance between them where they weren't touching felt like it was being held under a flame. "Ar' oo shur oor ok?"He asked quietly, staring right at him. It felt more like he was staring right into him, seeing everything he was trying to keep under control.

"I'm fine." He muttered, suddenly turning and walking towards the door, trying to keep his head low and out of sight.

"Kowalski where are you going?" Skipper asked, pulling out an earphone to watch his lieutenant grab his wallet off the table next to the door.

"Out. We need milk." He stated, brushing through the door and shutting it soundly behind him before legging it down the hall for the second time in less than 24 hours.

As he walked as quickly down the stairs as he could manage without risking falling on his face, he almost wanted to pitch himself over the stairwell. Running out? Again? Was he really that much of a hopeless case? But he didn't stop, because going back now would be more embarrassing then just continuing on.

There was one fatal flaw in this plan and he remembered what it was when he stepped out into the torrent of cold rain being pelted down from the sky.

"Brilliant." He laughed, turning in a circle on the balls of his feet. "And you call yourself a genius?" He asked loudly, ignoring the odd looks from people hurrying past with umbrellas to laugh loudly.

He was a wreck. An absolute travesty, all he needed was some smudged mascara and he could easily pull off the leading role in anyone of the romance movies private adored so much. Not only was he soaking wet again, he was going to have to walk the six blocks to the local supermarket and back again just so he wouldn't look like he was losing his mind. Witch he slowly was.

Or not so slowly, he could have sworn it was raining?

Twisting around to try and figure out why he was suddenly so dry he nearly fell over at the sight of Rico watching him with a concerned look and holding an umbrella out over him as his own hair got plastered against his skull with weight of the rain pushing it down.

"Are you trying to get a cold, keep the damn umbrella and go inside I'll be fine." He said quickly, trying to shove the object in question back towards the psychopath, hoping to walk off down the street before he could get it in his mind to follow him.

Rico only grinned before letting go of the umbrella completely, forcing Kowalski to make a grab for it before it hit the pavement. Groaning he offered it back to him, only to have him shake his head and spin away further into the rain with his palms up in gleeful triumph.

He huffed and propped it up on his shoulder. "At least go inside, because in case you haven't noticed it's raining."

Rico simply laughed, tossing his head back and spinning again. "I lihk the Rahne." He replied, humming what sounded like 'Singing in the rain' loudly as he jumped up on the nearest Lamppost, like he had jumped straight from an old fashioned musical. Leaning out he went to spin around it only to loose his footing and slip off, smashing his head against the post with an audible crack.

Kowalski dashed over, catching him by his arm as he almost fell over, trying to organize the umbrella so it would shelter them both while holding the Weapons Expert upright. "I hate to say you had that coming… but you had that coming." He stated, hauling him up further as he started to giggle madly.

Half dragging Him back towards the building he couldn't help but catch the infectious laughter coming from his now probably bruised team-mate. By the time they had made it the few steps back inside, they were both in pieces, cackling madly as the umbrella fell to the floor.

Still giggling the tactician pushed himself away from the wall and approached his team-mate, rolling up his damp sleeves. "Come here; let me check your head." He chuckled, waving impatiently at the weapons expert who righted himself and stumbled closer.

He brushed his saturated hair off his face, pushing it back onto his head before running his fingertips over the sight of impact. There wasn't any broken skin, and aside from a slight hiss of pain and a mild graze there didn't seem to be any harm done.

"You seem fine." He said, meeting his eyes, only to have to look away again. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry. "You might need some aspirin or something… it might hurt later." He finished, breathing sharply and still dancing around meeting his eyes.

His hand was still buried in his hair so he gently pushed it to the side, sliding his fingers out and watching the droplets caught between the strands shimmer as they caught the industrialized lighting in different ways. He could still feel his eyes locked on his, not looking away for even a moment as he slowly finished combing his fingers through his hair, letting his hand fall back to his side.

The What if's were back. What if he just went for it right now? What if he walked away or grabbed the umbrella or just straight up ran back out into the rain? His brain started ticking over, thinking through all the possibilities and outcomes, weighing up the options but it was all fuzzy and out of focus because the burning was coming back even worse than before. He felt a hand coil gently around his, interlocking their fingers and bringing it right up between them. He could still feel his eyes on him, but he dropped his gaze down to his own hand, feeling his face heat up and his brain completely short circuit.

There were no thoughts in his head when his damp hand was drawn close to the weapons expert, and with his eyes still locked firmly on his own, pressed a gentle kiss on to the back of it.

All he could feel was the frantic thrumming of his heart as he swallowed desperately, eyelids fluttering shut as he felt a hand cautiously skate across his cheek, fingers pushing stray hairs back behind his ears only to rest there. He realised his breathing was coming in shaky exhales, but couldn't figure out a way to change it before it caught in his throat. Slightly chapped lips were resting on his own, barely there and feather light but he felt it in absolutely every bone his body had.

He pressed back, feeling the hand barely touching his jaw come to rest on it and the slow equally paced response from the lips pressed against his own.

Everything was lighting up inside his head, like someone had turned on the whole of New York's skyline inside his skull. His toes curled and stomach flipped over completely, his entire body reacting to the simple kiss. He felt like his whole form was buzzing with this barely contained energy, a deep urge to pull him back clawing at his insides as Rico pulled away slightly. His eyes were half lidded and smile dangerous as he quietly murmured "Sparks." Before Kowalski gave up on forcing back his emotions and pulled him back into the kiss.

For all the stress and getting absolutely drenched for the second time in less than 24 hours, which will inevitably lead to a cold, there were only two words he could find to sum it up.

Worth it.

Private froze, eyes going wide and mouth hanging open as he stood there, awkwardly poised on the balls of his feet, ready to bound down the last steps. Although having rounded the corner only to find his superiors caught in a lip-lock, he seriously doubted that he would go down the last steps.

In fact, he thought as he turned and walked calmly back in the direction he'd come from, going back up the stairs seemed like a much better idea.

He was barely through the door when Skipper looked up from his laptop. "Did you find them?"

Private closed the door quietly, blinking oddly as he finally croaked out "Found them kissing. Does that count?" he asked.

Skipper snorted and rolled his eyes, running his hands through this already slicked back hair. "Those Idiots finally cottoned on." He chuckled.

If Possible Privates Jaw fell even further. "You thought this would happen?!"

"It wasn't a question _if_ so much as a question of _When_." He replied with a smirk.

He huffed and walked over, sitting on the leaders lap with his arms folded over his chest. "This isn't right, I'm the one that's good with all the emotional lovey-dovey junk." He pouted.

He laughed and kissed him lightly. "Then perhaps you're rubbing off on me."

"Then it's obviously working in the other direction was because I have a sudden urge to go watch monster trucks, and give people extra laps and be super cuddly when I'm alone with you." He giggled, kissing the leader on his newly formed scowl.

"That's not fair." He muttered. "You don't get to use that against me."

"Well I believe I just did." Private said, poking Skipper in the chest playfully.

Skipper rolled his eyes again, right before they narrowed in concentration. "If it took them that long to see what was going on between them… how long do you think it will take them to figure out what's going on between us?"

Private just shrugged. "I don't know. You're the emotionally connected one now. You tell me."

**HAAAAAAAPPPPYYYYYY BIIIIIIRTHDAY. Again.**

**:)**


End file.
